Hello! Certain video upload services (like dropshots.com) claim that  if
we use their special software app to upload files, the transfer
speed is 100x faster than  using the web browser. I assume desktop
software uses some protocol other than http... what is it? FTP?
Shutterfly also uses a standalone uploader too. Thanks!

The protocol can be either HTTP or FTP or even a home made protocol
but the protocol is not the reason the upload goes fast. The reason
their service is faster then a simple upload is because they use a
multi-threaded approach in which a file is divided into smaller chunks
which are uploaded via multiple connections at the same time.
Additionally they can add compression which could improve a lot the
upload speed if the video is not already compressed. Most peer to peer
networks and some advanced FTP clients use a similar strategy.

i think your comment counts as an answerr! how do i pay you? google
doesn't think the question is answered....